A Bad Plan Is Better Than None
by SingleDarkShade
Summary: Sara let out an annoyed sigh, "Rip, you realise for someone with not much time to explain you're talking a lot and not getting to the point."


Author's Note: Written for Rip Week 2019 Day 5: Fix-It – Set right what once went wrong, re-write those episodes to make them better, fix those broken characters and generally turn Legends of Tomorrow into the show it should be.  
I have added a missing scene to the beginning and end of Season 3 to make Rip's story for the season make a little more sense.

Enjoy.

* * *

Rip stood outside the room and took a long slow deep breath before he opened the door to where the team were waiting.

"Rip, what the…" Sara started, trailing off when he held up his hand.

He closed the door, activating the lock and waited.

"You have privacy, Director Hunter," Gideon spoke up.

Nodding Rip looked at the assembled group, saddened that the plans he had made, all the brilliant ideas he had for the people who had proved themselves so much in two short years would never come to fruition.

"Alright," he said, "We have to do this fast because the privacy will only be able to be on for so long and you have a mission."

Sara shook her head, "What the hell are you talking about? You just broke up the team and took the ship."

"I know," Rip replied, holding up his hands to stop the barrage of yelling that was about to happen, "There was a reason."

"Talk fast," Mick snarled from his position leaning against the wall a bottle of beer in his hand. Rip briefly wondered where the bottle had come from, before ignoring it.

Taking another deep breath Rip pushed a hand through his hair, currently shorter than it had ever been in his life and continued.

"When we crossed our own timestream," Rip said, "We broke time and released a Time Demon."

Mick spat out his beer, "What?"

"What does that mean?" Ray asked.

"It means we're doomed, Haircut," Mick told him.

"Not exactly," Rip spoke up, taking control of the conversation again, "By creating the Bureau I had to learn a whole new language of politics," he shuddered, "In order to build the organisation I needed people and unfortunately the fact I cannot give them too much information regarding myself or the Time Masters has always been an issue."

"We understand that frustration," Jax said.

Shaking his head Rip reminded them, "There are still time pirates out there who if they knew too much about my past then they could try to remove me, and everything would go to hell."

"Even more than it already has?" Sara asked.

"Yes," Rip said before moving the conversation back to its original thread, "Anyway Director Bennett, who I had no choice in, is not my biggest fan and would lose his mind if he knew I was recruiting you all to do this."

Sara let out an annoyed sigh, "Rip, you realise for someone with not much time to explain you're talking a lot and not getting to the point."

He winced and shook himself, "Sorry. Alright the basics are, we broke time, we released a time demon and the people I currently work with don't believe in the threat because they don't understand it," Rip sighed, "The agents are not trained to think outside the box like you all do, or to be more accurate to smash then set fire to the box."

"So, we stop it," Nate said demanding, "Give us the ship back."

"I can't," Rip told him, "At least not now."

Martin stepped forward, "You're not making much sense, Cap…Mr Hunter."

"It is now Director Hunter," Gideon spoke up making Rip smile slightly.

Nodding Rip took a quick breath, "Alright, I do have a plan. You are all going to leave here and go back to your lives for a few months. You will get the worst possible jobs that if you had any intention of making a life here you would never go to. Then in a few months there will be a way for you to come and steal the Waverider."

"Steal the Waverider?" Sara demanded, "Like Gideon would ever choose us over you. We've had that discussion before."

Rip shrugged but continued without answering her, "The only catch with all of this is you won't remember the plan."

"Why?" Jax, Nate and Ray demanded.

Wincing Rip replied, "Because out of all of you, Sara is the only one I know can keep a secret longer than a few days." He turned to the other woman in the room, "No offence, Miss Jiwe but I don't know you that well yet to know if you could or not."

Amaya gave a slight nod.

"So," Sara said softly, "Your plan is to give us a subconscious order?"

"Suggestion," Rip corrected her. He sighed shaking his head, "I'm sorry. I had so many plans for you all to join the Bureau and I have tried to work things out so we could do this easier but…"

"Hey," Sara rested her hand on his arm, "We get it."

Closing his eyes Rip took a final deep breath, "Once I do this, we'll be at odds until this is finished. I will do my best to protect you from the others in the Bureau, but you will be on your own most of the time."

"Which is why you're letting Gideon come with us." Jax said softly.

Rip nodded, "She'll protect you for me."

"Once this ends," Ray said, "Will we remember this conversation?"

"As soon as I say a phrase that I have set up," Rip said, "It will remove the hypnosis and we can get back to the business of protecting time again properly."

Sara stood, arms folded and a thoughtful look on her face, "I don't think I like that, if I'm understanding you right, you're putting us on opposite sides."

"Same side," Rip replied, "We're just having to work it differently."

"It leaves you on your own," Jax said.

"Which isn't a good place for you," Martin noted.

"Especially if you let us take Gideon," Ray added.

Rip sighed, his head dropping for a minute before he looked up at them again, "I have spent years going over this and this is the only plan that Gideon rated under a fifty-percentage chance of failure."

"Gideon?" Sara called, "Can you confirm?

"Yes," Gideon's voice came after a moment, "Director Hunter and I have worked on this problem for a number of years."

"How?" Jax asked, "We just got here."

Rip waved away the question, "I took the Waverider back to where I founded the Bureau as I knew I found her then."

The group all nodded, a few obviously wondering when that had become normal to them.

"We have very little time," Rip said, "This is the time to decide and if one says no then it's no from the group."

Sara turned to the crew, her team…their team who all gave a slight nod before she turned back to Rip.

"Do it."

* * *

"Captain," Gideon said as Rip carried the Time Core out to face Mallus, "Perhaps now is the time to remove the hypnosis from the team."

Rip shook his head, "It's better this way."

"You always knew," Gideon accused, "You never intended to remove it. Did you?"

Rip sighed, there was no point hiding it, "No."

"Why?"

"Because my curse is knowing the future, Gideon," he reminded her sadly, "And in the annuls of the Time Bureau history are the words, 'Director Rip Hunter, founder died saving time from Mallus.'"

"Why…"

Rip stopped in the middle of the field, "I've always been heading to this moment. The others have lost enough, it's better they remember things this way. It'll hurt less."

"And what of me, Rip?"

"I know you'll take care of them for me," Rip whispered, "The way you always took care of me. My Gideon."

"There is always a chance you will survive, and the history is a lie," Gideon noted softly.

Rip gave a sad smiled, "Then I know you'll find me."


End file.
